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Ericsson is enabling new virtualised services from Telefónica that see the telco leverage the experience gained from internal use of the UNICA platform.

Telefónica and Ericsson flagged the launch of virtualised private networks for business customers based on UNICA and network slicing.

Four months after demonstrating network slicing as one of the latest capabilities of its UNICA virtualised platform (Telefónicawatch, #124), Telefónica teamed with Ericsson to offer what looks to be its first commercial network slicing product to individual enterprise customers that typically have specific bandwidth and latency requirements.

The offering is called the Enterprise Private Network, which is a virtualised private network solution based on UNICA that uses network slicing and virtual evolved packet core (vEPC) – both regarded as key technologies for new 5G networks – to meet these specific enterprise needs. The solution was unveiled in June 2018 by José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chief Executive of Telefónica, during a presentation to analysts in Madrid.

The virtualised network solution is designed to provision tailored capabilities on a single infrastructure, such as guaranteed broadband service and low latency, to industries that have stringent connectivity demands, and which are seeking to update their production processes through the implementation of new digital technologies.

“We want our customers to not only buy capacity or access speed from us; we want to offer our customers a network that they can manage and adapt to their needs, a network with which they can interact and that can learn from them and, therefore, serve them better” — Álvarez-Pallete.

Telefónica indicated that the solution uses Ericsson’s technology for ultra-edge computing, which helps bring communications networks closer to the end user. The telco also mentioned that this is the first time a vEPC is available to its corporate customers.

Worth noting here is that a vEPC was integrated into the UNICA platform and loaded onto four network slices for the purposes of the demonstrations in February 2018. Of these four network slices, the Enterprise Private Network bears some resemblance to the demonstration of radio access network (RAN) slicing technology, which reproduced a private LTE network that can be subdivided for exclusive use by a range of different clients, with specific resource and latency requirements. Telefónica had previously highlighted its work on RAN slicing with Netsia (Telefónicawatch, #122), and said the February 2018 presentation demonstrated the effective virtualisation of the RAN.

Great technological leap forward

Telefónica and Ericsson clearly regard the launch of the Enterprise Private Network product as a major step forward in efforts to improve the quality, and flexibility, of communications services through the use of new virtualisation techniques, such as network slicing and vEPC.

Juan Carlos García, Global Director of Technology and Architecture at Telefónica, said the main characteristic of this new network architecture, which is “focused on covering the digitalisation needs of the industry”, is the capability to adapt and redistribute capacities according to individual need.

Vicente Muñoz, Chief IoT Officer of Telefónica, also pointed to the telco’s work on a concept called “Industry Ready”, which aims to “promote a change in the production systems of all industrial sectors” and support companies as they adopt new digital technologies.

Building the 5G business case

The launch of the new virtualised private network platform can be framed within the context of efforts by Telefónica and other mobile network operators to build new business cases for future 5G networks.

A popular view among 5G proponents is that the adoption by vertical industries of 5G will be essential for the successful roll out of the new mobile network standard.

The development of services that can specifically support industrial mobile communication requirements, such as high-capacity broadband and low latency, is regarded as an interesting, albeit challenging, use-case for companies in a range of industries.

Telefónica appears to have its eye on the provision of “integral solutions” to sectors such as airports, automotive, food companies, mining, petrochemicals, and ports.

Telefónica’s analyst day in Madrid took place on 21 June 2018 under the somewhat pithy slogan “Designing the future today”. During the event, Álvarez-Pallete also announced two new agreements: one with Colombian airline Avianca and another with Spanish engineering specialist ASTI Mobile Robotics (see separate reports)

Image: Lisanne Bakker / Unsplash

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